Weixin Channels Live Conduct Standards

Update Date: April 29, 2021

Effective Date: April 29, 2021

The Weixin Channels Live Conduct Standards (the "Standards") was formulated by Tencent according to the "Weixin Channels Operation Standards", the "Weixin Channels Live Feature Terms of Use", and other associated agreements in order to maintain a good cyber environment, protect the legitimate rights and interests of users, and improve the user experience.

1. Scope of Application

The Standards are intended to be binding on the live streaming activities conducted by any hosts or co-streaming users/hosts (collectively “Hosts”) using the Feature, including but not limited to the behaviors of hosts, and the live stream content published by the hosts (covers, titles, hosts' names and profile photos, screen background, background music, and content presented visually or delivered orally).

2. Host Registration

2.1 A host shall provide true and valid identity information for real-name authentication.

2.2 Any users under the age of 18 or residents outside China's Mainland (including the residents in Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan) are ineligible for registering as a host in the feature. Without obtaining the license or permit, any host shall not, in any manner, bypass or evade the relevant restrictions of the platform.

2.3 Hosts who are included in the blacklist of hosts in the online show (live streaming) industry are forbidden to participate in the Channels live streaming in any manner. The failure to abide by this provision will constitute a serious violation.

3. Publishing of Information

A host shall not publish the following non-compliant information or content using the feature:

3.1 The information or content that violates applicable laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, including but not limited to the content that:

3.1.1 Opposes the basic principles established by the Constitution;

3.1.2 Endangers the national security, discloses state secrets, incites subversion of the state power, or sabotages the national unity;

3.1.3 Harms the national honor or interests;

3.1.4 Incites hatred or discrimination against ethnic groups, or undermines the ethnic unity;

3.1.5 Undermines the national religious policies, or preaches cults or feudal superstitions;

3.1.6 Spreads rumors, disturbs the public order, or undermines social stability;

3.1.7 Incites illegal assemblies, associations, protests, demonstrations, or gatherings which disrupt the public order;

3.1.8 Acts on behalf of any illegal civil organizations;

3.1.9 Insults, spoofs, and tarnishes the national flag, national anthem, national emblem, military flag, military anthem, and other signs with special meanings;

3.1.10 Distorts, defames, blasphemes, or denies the deeds and spirit of heroic martyrs;

3.1.11 Contains any content prohibited by applicable laws and regulations.

3.2 The information or content that involves obscenities, lewd content, gambling, violence, or terror, or instigates crimes, including but not limited to the content that:

3.2.1 Directly or indirectly disseminates obscene or pornographic information in live streams, such as playing pornographic videos, displaying lewd images, sharing pornographic movie resources, and publishing information about prostitution or sexual hookups;

3.2.2 Gives obscene or pornographic performances, such as showing sexual activities, molesting minors, revealing private parts, or showing the close-up of sensitive parts;

3.2.3 Shows any activities related to gambling or suspected gambling, including but not limited to soccer gambling and horse gambling;

3.2.4 Promotes gambling, displays gambling tools (including but not limited to slot machines, coin pushers, fish hunters, electromagnet jammers, and cheating devices), gambling websites, red-packet gambling, or gambling games, or shows cheating, anti-cheating, or gambling tricks;

3.2.5 Displays drug samples, shows and shares drug use or injection methods, explains the drug production process, or abets drug use, as well as any other drug-related content;

3.2.6 Organizes or publicizes pyramid selling activities, or induces users to join organizations that engage in, or are suspected of engaging in pyramid selling;

3.2.7 Displays or promotes counterfeit currencies;

3.2.8 Demonstrates the use of knives, imitation knives, crossbows, guns, and imitation guns to do highly dangerous actions;

3.2.9 Shows the acts that endanger or may endanger the personal safety of others, such as beating others, threatening others with violence, and driving dangerously;

3.2.10 Shows, propagates or introduces the acts of robbing or destroying ancient cultural sites or tombs.

3.3 The information or content that insults or slanders others, or infringes on the legal rights and interests of others, including but not limited to the content that:

3.3.1 Insults, slanders, threatens, intimidates, spoofs, attacks, or vilifies others, and other content that damages the reputation of others;

3.3.2 Spreads false information that may cause damage to the legitimate rights and interests of others such as goodwill right and trade secrets;

3.3.3 Divulges the privacy or personal information of others, including but not limited to name, contact information, gender, address, photos, chat history, and family members;

3.3.4 Spreads or publishes, or incites or leads users to spread or publish, negative information or comments against others;

3.3.5 Spreads the content suspected of infringing on the intellectual property rights and trade secrets of others, including but not limited to pirating and rebroadcasting the content to which another user has intellectual property rights (such as unauthorized edit/play of the movies/TV dramas whose copyrights are owned by others, or unauthorized use, recording, or performance of the musical works whose copyrights are owned by others);

3.3.6 Promotes counterfeit goods, unbranded and dateless products by nameless factories, and fake and shoddy products;

3.3.7 Shows the acts that infringe on the legal rights of others or endanger public interests;

3.4 The information or content that is false, discomforting, or harmful to life and health, including but not limited to the content that:

3.4.1 Promotes pseudo-science and goes against scientific principles, such as changing fate through sorcery, or exorcism;

3.4.2 Makes misleading and false propaganda or false promises, or publishes false information about products or services, or provides false services;

3.4.3 Shows the acts that endanger personal safety, such as burning lips with a lighter, kneeling on broken glass, swallowing a sword, breaking a boulder in the chest, holding a breath for contest, interfering with the driving of motor vehicles (including automobiles and electric vehicles), the acts that break traffic rules (drunk driving, running red lights, speeding, etc.), and high-risk outdoor activities without any safeguard measures;

3.4.4 Shows cruel acts such as abusing or killing animals, or bloody slaughter or dismemberment;

3.4.5 Gives thrilling performances such as eating living things or carrion, or swallowing foreign bodies;

3.4.6 Shows corpses or wounds, attracts attention by using physical disabilities as a gimmick, or broadcasts part or all of a surgery process live.

3.4.7 Seeks publicity through Mukbang (eating show) where a large amount of food is consumed by means of fake eating or vomiting-inducing to advocate gluttony, overeating, and extravagance and waste.

3.5 The content that is prohibited by the relevant authorities, or shall not be published without the permission of the relevant authorities, including but not limited to the content that:

3.5.1 Shows guns, ammunition, explosives, controlled knives, rare wild animals and plants, and tobacco products;

3.5.2 Focuses on charity activities such as fundraising and donation;

3.5.3 Spreads religions;

3.5.4 Broadcasts news and current affairs;

3.5.5 Focuses on investment and financing (such as stock recommendation, online loan, promotion of financial products, or paid consultation on securities or futures);

3.5.6 Promotes the products or services for which special qualifications or the approval of regulators are required (including but not limited to medical treatment, drugs, medical devices, pesticides, veterinary drugs, health foods, and formula foods for special medical purposes).

3.6 The information or content prohibited by the platform, including but not limited to the content that:

3.6.1 Contains prohibited information or is included in the "Weixin Channels Live Marketing Information Publishing Standards" and the "List of Marketing Information Prohibited by Weixin Channels Live Feature";

3.6.2 Tarnishes or damages the image of the platform in any manner, or publishes false or malicious information related to Tencent;

3.6.3 Poses potential security risks to users, such as inducing users to provide personal information, or leading users to conduct private transactions or evade the supervision of the platform;

3.6.4 Other content prohibited by the "Weixin Channels Operation Standards".

4 Software Usage Standards:

4.1. Dress Code

A host shall dress appropriately and neatly. It is prohibited for a host to wear any of the following types of clothing during live streaming:

4.1.1 A female host shall not wear a dress that exposes or is likely to expose, their back, cleavage, or underwear; miniskirt or shorts with a hem high enough to expose the bottom of their hip; or bikini or similar underwear. Not wearing underwear is prohibited during live streaming.

4.1.2 A male host shall not bare their upper body or only wear underpants or tights during live streaming;

4.1.3 A host shall not wear uniforms for government workers and military personnel of the People's Republic of China (uniforms for armed forces, police, judicial staff of the people's procuratorates/courts, or staff of the industrial and commercial administrations or the urban administrative and law enforcement bureaus);

4.1.4 A host shall not wear any clothes and accessories that are not appropriate for live streaming, including but not limited to wearing a piece of clothes with a pattern containing a large portion of the national flag, or wearing a red scarf on an inappropriate occasion.

4.2 Conduct Standards

A host shall behave appropriately and morally in a civilized manner. The following behaviors are prohibited during live streaming:

4.2.1 Wearing a vulgar, revealing, or sexually suggestive makeup;

4.2.2 Making vulgar or sexually suggestive movements or postures such as deliberately shaking the chest, squeezing the chest, touching sensitive parts, squatting and stroking the thighs, and imitating sexual intercourse postures;

4.2.3 Performing vulgar interactions and playing vulgar games involving sensitive parts, including but not limited to imitating sex actions, and displaying and using objects similar to sexual organs;

4.2.4 Giving sexually seductive or stimulating performance, such as striptease, pole dance, or belly dance;

4.2.5 Giving an oral account of sexual activities, simulating pornographic sounds, sharing blue jokes, arousing sexual associations and fantasy through obscure and vulgar language, behaviors, and postures;

4.2.6 Displaying, or adding in the background, contraception products, sexually suggestive, sexually stimulating, or sexually seductive items, or the items involving prostitution;

4.2.7 Showing abnormal sexual preference, such as fetish or pedophilia;

4.2.8 Exhibiting any inappropriate behavior including smoking, heavy drinking, gambling, using vulgar words, or displaying or revealing tattoos;

4.2.9 Expressing or promoting perverted, non-mainstream, and unhealthy views on marriage or love or state of marriage and love;

4.2.10 Directly or indirectly inducing or forcing minor users to make purchases in a way not permitted by the platform;

4.2.11 Selling or promoting any products prohibited by applicable laws, regulations, or associated agreements or rules of Weixin platform;

4.2.12 Showing minors as models in live streaming.

4.2.13 Other behaviors prohibited by the "Weixin Channels Operation Standards" and the "Weixin Channels Live Marketing Information Publishing Standards".

5. Violation of These Standards

In the event that any host's behavior or published content is in violation of any provision set forth herein, whether found by Tencent or reported by other users, Tencent has the right to cease the live steams by such host and delete the non-compliant content without prior notice, and take action against the host based on the severity of such violation, including but not limited to giving a warning, completely or partly discontinuing the recommendation of content, or suspending or permanently banning the use of live streaming/commenting features, or some or all Weixin and Channels features.

6. Updates to These Standards

These Standards are subject to changes and updates from time to time. To ensure a better user experience, Tencent may make amendments, revisions or supplements to these Standards as necessary in terms of any uncovered matters or new issues, or according to any updates of applicable laws and regulations or product operation requirements. It is therefore advised to visit our website regularly to keep you up to date with the information we release.

7. Miscellaneous

In case of any inconsistency and discrepancy between the Simplified Chinese version and English version of the Standards, the Simplified Chinese version shall prevail.

Tencent Inc.